Propeller



J. M. MAHER.

PROPELLER. I APPLlCATION FILED APR. 27, I918.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

J.' M. MAHER. PROPELLER.

APPHCATION FILED APR. 21, 1918.

1,318,571. Patented Oct; 14,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- set of vanes, while ordinarily working to v UNITED, s'r TEs PATENT OFFICE.

' JAMES M, or FREMONT, NEBRASKA.

' 'IEROPELLER.

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES M. MAHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fre mont, in the county of Dodgeand State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Propellers, of which the following is a specification.

'My invention relates to. improvements in propellers and the main object of my invention is the propulsion of vessels onthe ocean and other bodies of water, by my new and improved means at a greatly increased speed, and absolute certainty of movement. Another object ofmy invention is the provision of means that can be applied to vessels already in use or underconstruction, and "which will be positively practical and eflicient for theintended purpose;

With these objects in view myinvention consists of a system of propellers attached to the sides of vessels preferably recessed in the sides of the hulls of vessels, and operated from within the vessel by any desired power system.

The propulsion of a vessel to which my system of propellers is attached is caused by the outward, forward movement of vanes which consist'of an upper and lower casing suitably, and at properdistances apart, partitioned, said partitions being partially oval in form, this shapebeing best suited to the engaging contact with the water; and, hinged to the inner end of said'partitions, are auxiliary. partitions, Whichalso 'act as valves to operate automatically, opening on the inward strokeof the vanes, allowing the water to empty, and to close again at the forward movement of, the vane.

. This upper and lower casing partitioned vane, is operated by a power driven eccentric, suitably connected to the end of the vane; the opposite end of the vane being attached to a crank arm that moves in unison with the eccentric operating mechanism.

2A plurality of vanes as above described, each attached to an eccentric on one end and a crank arm on the opposite end, may be used, the number, depending onthe' speed 'ofthe vesseldesired; thus a speed several times greater than :is possible with the present means of vessel propulsion may be attained in this manner. g

Another object of my in ventionis that each set of vanes, attached to opposite sides of the vessels, that is the right and the left anism.

balance'wheel casings'6. I Y.

Specification'of Letters Patent. P t t 0 1 ,14, 19 9, Application filed April 27, 1918. Serial No. 231,212.

gether in unison, may be quickly detached 7 and either set work independently of the other, or one set remain idle, or reverse,

vwhilethe other set continues propelling the vessel forward; thus this movement will rapidly turn the Vessel to any desired angle,

to outdistance and zig-zag torpedoes. I

Balance or fly wheels of sufficientweigh and size will be attached to the vanes to steady and assist in carrying the vanes through the water, by their momentum,

close to the upper end of the vertical crank arm and eccentric shafts.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vessel provided with my system of propellers.

F g. 2 is an end view of my propelling mechanism.

Fig.3 is a sectional plan or side view of the complete system of propellers and mech- Fig. 4 is a top view of partitions, auxiliary partition and eccentrics and crank arms. j

Fig.5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4:-

Referring by numeral to the drawings in the same parts'in all of the views:

I The numeral 1, designates the hull of the vessel of any type or character and my propelling mechanism isapplied to each side of the hull at the most practical position, and one or more sets of the mechanisms may be used, but in the present drawing only one set is'used.

The main aim of my invention is the probility and .inexpensiveness' of production with full efliciency, and 'to the hull of the vessel either in recesses thereof or as shown which similar numerals of reference denote a vision of means which-will consist of few working parts to insure simplicity, durain the drawingsare mounted the pair of lateral extending brackets 2, having aseries line, and-upoILa 'proper' place upon the brackets are formed or secured the fly or 1 In the bearings ofthe arms and casings are journaled the vertically .disposedshafts 7 which near their upper ends carry the fly or balance wheels 8, and'at-their upper ends the horizontally disposed bevel gear wheels 9, which mesh with the similar bevel gear wheels 10, arranged vertically upon the horizontal shaft 11, carrying intermediate of its length the bevel gear wheel 12, meshing with the driving bevel gear wheel 13, on driving shaft 14, operated from a suitable source of power within the vessel.

From this construction it will be understood that the shaft from the vessel is revolved by any suitable power and revolves the horizontal shafts which in turn rotate the pairs of vertical shafts giving a high velocity or rotation to said shafts with the balance wheels thereon, and one set of these shafts carries the pair of cranks 15, while the other set has mounted thereon the pair of eccentrics 16, which revolve in the pair of circular bands 17, on one end 18, of the open heads 19, having their other ends 20, secured to the pairs of cranks 15.

The open heads 19 have mounted therein in a vertical position a series of curved vanes 21, the concave surfaces of which form pockets for engaging the water and propelling the vessel when the heads are on their driving strokes. However when the heads 19 are returning totheir initial driving positions, the convex surfaces of the vanes 21, will prevent the vanes from materially reducing the headway of the vessel. Pivotally mounted in the heads 19, at the inner ends of the curved vanes are pivoted plates 22, the free ends of which engage the abutments 21 on the convex surfaces of the vanes 21, when the heads are on their driving strokes. These pivoted plates 22 are forced out of engagement with the abutments by the resistance of the water after the completion of each. driving stroke and are forced into engagement by the resistance of the water, when the eccentrics force the heads 19 outwardly for starting their driving strokes. It will be seen that the curved vanes are completely braced by the pivoted plates 22 at all times when they are on a driving stroke.

It will thus be understood that my construction provides a propelling mechanism which comprises few working parts which require a comparatively small amount of power to achieve the highest degree of efliciency, and that the one set of propellers are driving the vessel forward while the other set is returning, and that such a mechanism is practical in every respect.

I claim:

1. A propulsion apparatus for vessels comprising a pair of brackets secured to the side of a vessel, vertical shafts rotatably mounted in the brackets, one of said vertical shafts being provided with eccentrics in a horizontal plane, the other vertical shaft being provided with c anks in a horizontal plane, connection bars having eccentric yokes at one of their ends surrounding the eccentrics on the vertical shaft, the other ends of said connecting bars being pivotally secured to the cranks of the other vertical shaft, water engaging vanes carried by the connecting bar for engaging the water and means for rotatin the vertical shafts and the eccentrics. whereby a reciprocating movement will be imparted to the connecting bars.

2. A propulsion apparatus for vessels comprising a pair of brackets secured to the side of a vessel, vertical shafts rotatably mounted in the brackets, one of said vertical shafts being provided with eccentrics in a horizontal plane and at diametrically opposite sides of the vertical shaft, the other vertical shaft being provided with cranks in a horizontal plane, said cranks being at diametrically opposite sides of. the vertical shaft, connecting bars having eccentric yokes surrounding the eccentrics, the other endsof the connecting bars being pivotally secured to the cranks of the vertical shaft,

water engaging vanes carried by the connecting bars for engaging the water and means for rotating the vertical shafts whereby a reciprocating movement will be imparted to the connecting bars for propelling the vessel.

3. A propulsion apparatus for vessels comprising a pair of brackets secured to the side of a vessel, vertical shafts rotatably mounted in the brackets, one of said vertica-l shafts being provided with eccentrics in a horizontal plane and at diametrically opposite sides of the vertical shaft, the other vertical shaft being provided with cranks in a horizontal plane, said cranks being at diametrically opposite sides of the vertical shaft, connecting bars having at one of their ends eccentric yokes surrounding the eccentrics, the other ends of the connecting bars being pivotally secured to the cranks of the vertical shaft, water engaging vanes carried by the connecting bars for engaging the water, pivotally mounted braces carried 1 JAMES M. MAHER Witnesses:

J. N. MARTIN, E. W. KERR.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0. 

